Instant Pot Spicy Sweet & Sour Chicken

I don’t know if I have mentioned this here before, but we cancelled our cable over a year ago and we haven’t missed it at all! The kiddos hardly ever watched tv anyway so it has been a great way to save money and keep the electronics to a minimum. My kids spend so much time playing outside with friends, with the pups, and team sports, it was really a seamless transition for our family. We do have a netflix account and amazon prime for watching shows on a rainy day, but those are used very little as well.

The biggest different for me is, I used to have food network on in the background while I worked on the computer for an hour or 2 a day and while I clean in the mornings after the kids leave for school. Instead, now I listen to music on pandora while I clean and I have found a new habit to replace food network: YOUTUBE RECIPE VIDEOS!

In fact, a youtube video is where I found the inspiration for this recipe! I was watching/listening to instant pot recipe videos when I came across one for the instant pot that used FROZEN CHICKEN BREAST. WHAT???? I couldn’t even remember the last time I had bought frozen chicken breast. I don’t know why? They are super convenient, with no having to worry about chicken spoiling. The recipe was on a video by Noreen’s Kitchen and it looked DELICIOUS and had very good reviews. I immediately put it on our menu for the next week!

It turned out CRAZY good! We served it with our favorite fried rice (even though there is white rice in the pics. I had to hurry and take the pics before I fried the rice because it was getting dark) I did make a couple of changes based on our preferences, for instance, she used 1 TABLESPOON of red pepper flakes and I cut that back to a teaspoon and that was plenty spicy for us. But feel free to adjust to your tastes! This was so good and so easy and I can not believe I was able to cook frozen chicken that tender in 40 minutes! Mind>Blown

Place lid on your pressure cooker and make sure your pressure release valve is set to closed. Press manual and adjust the time for 40 minutes. Allow to complete cycle and pressure release naturally. Remove lid and turn pressure cooker off. Remove chicken from the juices. Combine cornstarch and water and stir into pot to thicken. Turn instant pot on to saute and stir until thickened. Serve sauce over chicken and enjoy over rice or noodles. We love this over fried rice!

*optional, after I thickened my sauce, I brushed some of it over the chicken and stuck it under the broiler for a minute or 2.

*I have not tried this with fresh chicken breast but have heard mixed reviews. If you try it, the recommended cook time is 20 minutes. Let me know how it turns out for you!

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About Brandi Burgess

Brandi Burgess A.K.A. 'Aunt Bee' has been married to the love of her life for 10 years. A Birmingham native, She and her husband helped run her parents successful business for 8 years before finally spreading their wings and setting out to make it on their own. They moved to Huntsville in 2012 where she is a stay at home mom, to their 2 kids ages 10 and 5. She has a passion for cooking for her family and trying new recipes.

I made this tonight and it was very good. My family loved it. I will definitely make it again, but I will cut down on the crushed red pepper flakes. Just a side note your ingredient list says lemon juice ( which is what I used) but your instructions say lime juice. Thought you might want to correct that. Ps I used all GF ingredients 😋

My daughter and I made the recipe and it was wonderful. The chicken was cut into chunks and the cooking time was reduced accordingly. We will definitely keep this in our rotation. Thank you for sharing.

Just wanted you to know, I made your recipe for the family tonight. Everybody raved about it! I followed your recipe to a T except I used boneless, skinless, UNFROZEN, chicken breasts. I did follow your note at the bottom that said cook the unfrozen chicken for 20 minutes. I did that and did 10 minutes NPR and then qr. The chicken was a little dry, but not bad. Next time I will either cook a little less time or just qr the whole thing after. This recipe is a keeper! And we will make it often. Thanks!

This was AMAZING!, It’ll be something l make on a regular basis. I used rock hard frozen breasts, cooked 40 minutes and they fell apart as if l had shredded them…which l love! Super moist and l love the kick. I used lime juice. I steamed broccoli and added it to the sauce. It tastes like genuine Chinese food. Thanks for sharing this!

Finally got around to making this after all! The chicken was moist and done in 40min…yes using frozen chicken breasts. The sauce was just a tad needing more red pepper and maybe ginger but I am still playing with spices, substitutions (minced in jars or freeze dried) vs fresh aka garlic, ginger etc. I did a tsp of jarred, minced ginger as couldn’t find the conversion online. Prob want more next time. OMG…I just realized I forgot the garlic! Lol. Well anyway the sauce was very watery so u definite need 3T of cornstarch. The sauce was also very sweet…I need to fig out the balance a bit better or cut down on the brown sugar the recipe calls for. No way did I dirty another pan and put the glazed chicken in the oven! I was also tired and simply served it with white rice but fried rice would have been great…more babysitting tho. Overall I will make this dish again…tweak it and do the fried rice next time. I love making Asian at home as takeout is expensive and I like to control the spice plus I am picky about friend rice. Ok I am picky about most stuff;) advice on spices welcomed.